What a bizarre little book!
Following a probability and statistics professor on the day of a major chain of absurd and horrific events is wild enough, but then you go an add an X-Files-like vibe. I am obsessed!
This story manages to be oodles of fun, terrifying, and emotional without becoming too heavy. With such phenomenal writing, hand selling Lucky Day will be a breeze. 5/5.

I read Bury Your Gays last year and absolutely loved it. It was wild, imaginative, bizarre-- really the list goes on. Of course, Tingle has a reputation, or more accurately I should say a legacy, so it's always going to be exciting when he releases something not in the Tingleverse, doubley so if it's horror. I was extremely pleased to finish this with the same level of awe I did for his previous books. Tingle is so dang creative, frankly a powerhouse of creativity and originality, and honestly I could go on and on about how cool he and his writing is.

Now for the actual writing itself. Lucky Day was fascinating. It has a wild and interesting premise, the setting for most of the novel being the world in the aftermath of what came to be called the Low Probability Event. Mid-air plane collisions, a man beat to death with a typewriter wielding chimp dressed like Shakespeare, salmon flying through windshields in the middle of a densely populated city, all of this happening in one day and resulting in the deaths of about 8 million people, world-wide.

Our main character is Vera, a survivor of this event who has fallen into a deep 4 year depression since then. A statistics and probability professor and newly published author, the day of the LPE she was celebrating with her fiancée, mother, and friends before all hell broke loose. Accompanying her is Agent Layne, another survivor and strange government official, a heavy hitter for an organization that's investigating a casino -- the very one she wrote her book about those four years ago.

Furthermore, because frankly I can't stop, the science fiction and horror aspects are neat as all heck. These pages are blood soaked, and Tingle's descriptions are straight up disturbing for the horror scenes. Most notably are almost immediate, and are even hinted at in the description of the book: the balloon ropes and the chimp with the typewriter. Tingle didn't have to include that the typewriter makes a different sound once it cleaves through a human skull and brain matter and meets the floor, but he did and that was awesome.

This book was fantastic, and for me at least has surpassed Bury Your Gays for my favorite book by Tingle. It's a constant struggle between nihilism and hope, in trying to find meaning in a world where the laws we previously understood to be true and real are upended and turned on their heads. It is a pendulum that swings from depression and hopelessness to carefree and weightless nonchalance. In the face of chaos, do you say "nothing matters :(" or "nothing matters :)"? What do you do when you lose absolutely everything?

Thanks a TON to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for this free eARC in exchange for my honest review. This one was so cool and I'm very thankful.

Whoa. This was my first Chuck Tingle book, but it won't be my last. I fell so hard into this story - 2 hours went by without me realizing it.

One day in May a terrifying "Low Probability Event" occurs, killing millions of people (mostly American adults) in horrifyingly bizarre and highly unlikely ways. Vera, a professor of Statistics and Probability, survives, but she's not living. Holed up in her mother's house she's barley managing to exist when a Low Probability agent knocks on her door. He doesn't have to abide by any laws or follow any rules, and he's certain Vera is going to be the one person to finally explain the event that continues to elude even the most brilliant of minds.

Full of terror, twists, and fantastically bizarre events, this is the book you can't turn away from!

So much gore and terror, but still hopeful. This is the first book I've read by Chuck Tingle, although I've been a fan of his for years. Amazing story. Love is real.

It’s May 23rd otherwise known as the Low Probability Event.

I first fell in love with Tingle’s writing with Bury Your Gays, as a bisexual the literal invisibility of one of the bisexual characters really spoke to me. Especially as a bisexual female presenting person in a heterosexual presenting relationship. Lucky Day carries this theme further.

The central event of this novel centers around two things, the Low Probability Event and the surrounding trauma Vera grapples with as a result and a supernaturally lucky casino in Las Vegas.

I loved this! I got the approval on NetGalley and immediately opened it up and started. All throughout Tingle’s work is the theme Love is real, love is what saves each character.

I officially read the three Chuck Tingle horror novel! I give Lucky day 3.5 stars.

Tingle have a very special creative mind i must say. His novels are in the horror section but, i think the line is thin with science-fiction. Once again we are going on a journey with odds events that make you say ''wtf did i just read?''. I got it for mostly all Lucky day but in the end, this is a really well written book.

Vera is a statistic professor who is in a meeting with all the improbable things you can imagine and her life is now upside down. I think this novel is a great exploration of life and the uncontrollable side of it. Vera was such a true and relatable character, big highlight. Overall very good weird book with just the good amount of gruesome horror.

This was so good, it absolutely blew me away. Vera’s grief was so visceral and interesting to wade through. Everything clicked together incredibly well, and I’m fascinated by the concept of historical inertia.

Chuck Tingle wows me again! I love his unhinged, crazy, and absurd events in this book! A major disaster occurs called the Low-Probability Event in which nearly 8 million people die in absurd ways. The FMC, Vera Norrie, gets involved in a part of this Low-Probability Event ordeal after publishing a book about a casino. Special Agent Jonah Layne is investigating the casino and needs Vera to help so another event won't happen again. I absolutely loved this wild ride, which was fast paced (IMO) and is just an amazing book of unhinged people and events that I tend to gravitate towards. I feel like Tingle is becoming an auto buy author for me.

🍀 Book Review 🍀

Ever since loving BURY YOUR GAYS (top ten of 2024, woop woop!), I didn't hesitate one second to push all my chips in and gamble on Chuck Tingle's lastest novel, LUCKY DAY. And this tug of war between the logic and the improbable paid off.

At its center is Vera, a woman who has tried to make sense of the world through statistics, probability, and rationality. Her entire worldview is built on predictability until a single, wildly improbable (and horrific, grotesque and completely bonkers) event called the Low Probabiliaty Event shatters her sense of order. From that point on, Vera dives headfirst into a reality where reason gives way to chaos, and absurdity reveals deep, unsettling truths.

Themes of free will, fate, luck, and historical inertia are woven throughout the narrative, raising big questions without offering easy answers. While the story doesn’t shy away from grief and dread, it resists falling into nihilism. Instead it suggests that sometimes, just *existing* is enough. Fellow fans of Bury Your Gays will recognize familiar themes of existential horror, along with a few callbacks to a certain TV series. I got serious X-Files vibes, with a dash of Final Destination and Jordan Peele’s Nope thrown in. One reveal had me literally gasp, “NO WAAAAY” 🤯 but apparently yes, f’ing way. Tingle proves once again that they’re not just a master of surreal horror, but a fierce, compassionate observer of what it means to be alive in an unpredictable world.

I'll end with a quick stat: at the time of this review, 9 out of 10 readers gave Lucky Day 4 or 5 stars (according to my completely elementary math), so your odds of enjoying this one are looking very good. Highly recommend for my horror folks, just be sure to check content warnings as always. LUCKY DAY comes out August 12.

Huge thanks to @NetGalley and @TorNightfire for the free eARC.

Rating: I enjoyed it! 👏🏼

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle is a cosmic horror with comic moments of absurdity so bizarre you have to laugh, despite the tragedy. I found myself relating to main character Vera a lot, her fits of rage and her depression among other emotions. This book is a must-read for horror fans, for Chuck Tingle fans, and for everyone who knows love is real.

I have been a fan of Chuck Tingle for a while and started off really enjoying the concept and writing of this book. However, near the end, I felt that there were elements that could have been investigated further as I was confused. I felt like Tingle jumped to certain outcomes without laying the foundation - from character decisions to major plot resolutions. I think there is a great book in here but it needs a bit of finessing.

This started out interesting enough, a freak “low probability event” accident kills 7 million people, but that’s about where it stops being entertaining. Of course it’s nonsensical, and I’m sure if you like Chuck Tingle you’ll like it. That’s an important note. This is my first book by him, and I can see if you’re a fan, you’ll probably love this.

I didn’t fully know what I was getting into, but was able to roll with it, ultimately I found it got boring around the 50% mark, there was a real lack of character depth, which sure this is very much a plot book, but yea unfortunately this didn’t work for me.

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC.

Chuck Tingle has done it again! “Lucky Day” isn’t just a tale—it’s a full-body hug from the universe wrapped in sweet absurdity and sincere heart. This isn’t about getting pounded in the butt by luck—this is about discovering that sometimes the weirdest, softest moments can hit the hardest (emotionally speaking). Tingle delivers existential musings with the grace of a sentient spaghetti noodle and the depth of a love-asaurus rex. Five stars, would get lucky again!”

4.5 stars rounded up

This made my stats loving heart so happy. Tingle’s writing gets better every time I read a new book of his. Vera was a very dynamic and relatable character. Bringing light to biphobia? I loved it. I love Vera and Layne‘s work relationship and the juxtaposition of happy-go-lucky (ha! get it?) Layne with black cat Vera. Tingle hit the recipe for weird entertaining and very sharp horror novels. I liked how he conveyed Vera’s loneliness, isolation, and depression because it felt very real and relatable. This was an amazing read.

A fantastic union between a stoic, logical character and absolutely bizarre and unhinged events. I did have a little difficulty resonating with the main character at first, but by the end I felt like I knew her and really appreciated how it all turned out.

Not quite as solid as his previous novel "Bury Your Gays" in my opinion, but a very enjoyable read nonetheless. Chuck has a gift for thinking up the most unhinged scenarios and finding a way to make them work.

We'll most definitely be stocking this at our store and I'm sure it will fly off the shelf.

Mr. Tingle, I was not familiar with your game. What a wild ride this was.

The blend of absurdism and horror is beautifully done. Tingle’s twisted imagination shines brightest in the breathless sequences of gore and surreal terror. There’s a scene in a wave pool so gruesome it will make me think twice before dipping my toes into the deep end ever again.

Some of the broader, more otherworldly strokes – e.g., cosmic centipedes and literal voids in spacetime – kept me from fully embracing the premise. But the slick pacing ensures that no beat overstays its welcome, propelling the story forward with relentless energy.

Count me as a Tingle fan from here on out. This was a bloody good time.

In Chuck Tingle's latest, we meet Vera, who is celebrating a new job and a book publication. On this day, May 23, the world suffers a disaster dubbed the Low-Probability Event. Nearly eight million people died in improbable and totally bizarre ways … and I mean BIZARRE. Think of a freak accident in Final Destination style cranked up to max volume, then maybe you'll have an idea of what this book contains. We pick up with Vera after these horrors and how bleak her life as become. Then, an agent knocks on her door to discuss some ghosts from her past and we are taken on a cosmic ride that rivals any multiverse. But, as is usual of a Chuck Tingle story, this one has a lot of hear and PROVES LOVE. Thank you so much to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the ARC. You can pick this up when t publishes August 12, 2025 wherever you buy your books!

With a different author, this could've gone in a bunch of different politically gross directions. But knowing Tingle's whole deal gave me the trust to really enjoy this and trust what he was going to do. It ended up being a very smart, loving, well-written (gross, horrifying) story that I deeply enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was still a very entertaining book, 3/5 stars isn't bad at all.

I think it suffers from a strong first act and a weak second act. The logic and probabilities stuff being explained was going over my head though, lol. I feel like this would be a very fun movie to watch if it was ever adapted.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love Chuck Tingle, and I love that he's able to take very real issues in the world and frame them in such an interesting way and with care and intent. Existentialism aside, bringing bi erasure into the story and mixing that with the main character's struggles after the LPE - was wonderfully done. Existing and living are such broad and vast concepts, but they played such a central part to this story, and I thought it was beautiful.

The characters that Tingle writes are always so flawed, but in a very real manner. I thought that Vera was dynamic and developed in a way that made sense for how she approaches and navigates the world. I thought the juxtaposition of Vera and Layne, with their contrasting world views and how they approach life, brought humor to an otherwise serious topic. Their interactions and bickering were great.

While not my favorite of his three horror books, it still did such a great job of pulling me in and holding my attention. The pacing was great, in my opinion, and I really enjoyed getting to travel along with the characters as they learned and discovered the meanings/reasons behind the LPE.

Tingle has managed to, again, write a well-crafted horror that touches on very real ideas.